Trooper killed, 10 injured in Manipur blast

Imphal, Sep 9 (IANS) An Assam Rifles trooper was killed and 10 other personnel were injured Sunday in a blast in Manipur’s Bishenpur district, police said.

This is the third blast in Manipur over the weekend targeting security forces. Two separatist outfits - the United National Liberation Front and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) - have claimed responsibility for the earlier bomb blasts.

D.K. Rao of the Assam Rifles died on the spot after the rebels triggered the improvised explosive device (IED) blast at Kumbi area, district police chief Radheshyam Singh told IANS.

Of the 10 troopers injured, three were critical and have been admitted at Leimakhong army base hospital near Imphal, he added.

Preliminary investigation indicates that the rebels could have triggered the IED by remote control from a distance.

No arrests had been made so far, but a manhunt is on to nab the rebels, the police chief added.

On Saturday, two people, including a soldier, were injured in a bomb blast triggered by the PLA, the military wing of the outlawed Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), on Tiddim Road in the Manipur capital.

RPF spokesman Taohangsu Heiremcha said PLA would continue to launch more attacks on the security forces in the state.

The RPF is fighting over the past three decades for an independent homeland for the majority Metei community in Manipur.